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Navy, air force to get back old ‘royal’ names

By Allan WoodsOttawa Bureau

Mon., Aug. 15, 2011

OTTAWA—Canada’s navy and air force are getting new retro names four decades after Ottawa controversially melded the army, navy and air force under a single command and stripped the services of their colonial heritage.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay will announce on Tuesday that the country’s pilots and sailors will once again be identified as “Royal” — as in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy.

The reverse of this historic photograph scanned from the Toronto Star Library reads: 1924, the birth-year for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and C. Roy Slemon, (standing, second from left) was undergoing flying training on Avro 504s as a member of Provisional Pilot Officer Course No. 1 at Camp Borden, Ont. (He went on to become Chief of the Air Stff and
deputy commander of NORAD.) (Toronto Star Archives)

Officials say that it won’t cost much to go back to the names the two organizations held since their inception. There may be new badges and redesigned letterhead, but the Conservative government’s decision goes a long way toward righting an historical grievance.

“What it does is essentially provides a tangible link to the history of the air force, which, after all goes back to 1921,” said retired Lt. Gen. Angus Watt, a former chief of the air staff. “It’s a name under which we fought in World War II, a name in which a lot of people take great pride.”

Sailors and airmen fell into a collective funk when, in 1968, then Liberal defence minister Paul Hellyer, announced plans to integrate the army, navy and airforce and bring them under a unified command. That gave rise to the Canadian Forces, comprised of the army (land force command), navy (maritime command), and air force (air command).

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Gone were the distinctive names under which legions of Canadians had sacrificed their lives in WWI, WWII and the Korean War. The distinctive uniform that identified each of the three services was replaced by a single green outfit to be worn by all. Likewise a single rank structure was introduced whether military personnel fought on land, in the sea or in the air.

The navy, which just celebrated its 100th year, was particularly bitter about the changes of 1968, feeling them to have been haphazard and inconsistent, said naval historian Wilf Lund who was then a captain.

The decision prompted the forced retirement of the navy’s senior operational commander, Rear Admiral W.M. Landymore as well as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Jeffry Brock, Lund recounted in an article for the naval and military museum at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, B.C.

“We moved into a tri-service green uniform. So there we were, the only navy in NATO running around in what we called the Jolly Green Giant suits,” he said in a telephone interview. “They were the worst looking uniforms you can possibly imagine.”

On top of that was the chaotic nature of the policy changes affecting tens of thousands of military personnel. Royal may have been gone from the names of the navy and air force, but a regal crown remained in their badges and the ships continued to be officially named Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS).

Also, army regiments continued to retain their historical titles such as the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

To this day Hellyer’s name inspires grumbling among vets.

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“He was stickhandling this. It was sort of like a game of street hockey. There were no rules. He was making it up as he went along,” said Lund.

Lt. Gen. Watt said that tempers died down after a few years and people got back to the business of protecting the country and global hot spots.

“I served my entire career — 37 years — and never served in the RCAF because it didn’t exist,” he said. “After a couple of years it wasn’t a big issue. This is a nice thing to do that provides a bit of a pat on the back and reinforces a sense of history.”

Hellyer, reached by the Star Monday night, said his decision to unite the army, air force and navy under a single command was “absolutely essential” at the time to save money by avoiding duplication and to ensure cooperation between branches of the military.

He was not pleased by the news that the old names were returning.

“This has got to be the dumbest thing that the (Conservative) majority government has done in its race to the past,” Hellyer said. “They're supposed to be saving money. Even the cosmetics of this change would cost millions.”

He said costs would extend beyond stationery and decorative badges and could include equipment. He did not give any examples.

The name changes to be announced Tuesday are the result of five years of lobbying by veterans groups and individual military personnel, plus the recommendations of the Senate Committee on National Defence. The government consented because the old names better reflect what soldiers, sailors and air force personnel do for a living, an official said.

The decision has enflamed advocates for a Canadian republic who call it a waste of time and effort that will do nothing to slow efforts to sever the country’s constitutional shackles. Others insist the move is purely symbolic, intended only to ensure historical recognition.

“No one disputes Canada's sovereignty. The Queen remains our sovereign. We share her with Britain; it is not Britain's sovereign who reigns over us,” Liberal Sen. Joseph Day (who was unavailable for comment) wrote in the Star back in January.

“The Royal adjective helps to define ourselves along with our policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism. Our nation prospers within these three pillars, essential ingredients of our distinct Canadian identity in North America.”

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